London Travel Card

By far the best way to pay for your travel in London is by a London travel card, otherwise known as an Oyster card. Yep, funny name, but it’s one of the greatest innovations to ever come to the city – Basically its a plastic card onto which you can load credit to be used on the transport network, and you ‘touch’ in and out as you travel between stations. You can either purchase a daily, weekly, monthly or yearly travel card on your oyster, or credit that you chose to use when you need it. If you’re going to be travelling daily the longer the travel card you can afford to buy the better – you’ll save a lot of money this way.

An London travel card will cost you £5, but if for some reason you don’t need it anymore you can get this money back if you return it to a tube station – so think of this money as a deposit and an investment in your new London life.

The pricing system for Oyster cards are quite complicated, but as a general rule if you are a student, or you travel during off peak hours or not through Zone 1 then you will pay a lower fare. A full breakdown of Oyster fares and ticket options can be found on the Transport For London website. You can purchase and top-up your Oyster card at any tube or London overground station, so it’s worth getting one as soon as you arrive.